Page 39 of Outcast

“I have one question. And it might determine your fate,” Odin said, and I didn’t doubt the threat in his words. “Do you resent the realm that you were given?”

My answer was immediate, I didn’t even have to think before the words fell from my lips.

“No. I may have had to die to become what I am, but even I’m not naive enough, or stupid enough, to disregard what Helheim has given me.” It saved us all in our own ways and gave me far more than this world ever had. Sure, it came with a few extra responsibilities, and I hadn’t quite wrapped my mind around immortality yet. Most days, I was barely treading water but it wasn’t like I didn’t have literal centuries to figure that shit out. Even with as little time as I spent there, I could see the importance of this balance and what the realm stood for. Helheim wasn’t a prison, it was eternal life and a place of peace for those who’d earned it.

Odin said nothing else. He studied me as if reading my thoughts and nodded once before disappearing altogether. The courtyard descended into silence again and the sudden change left me shook, but proud.

I had a strong feeling the god’s intentions were never to put a stop to this. He could easily destroy this world if he wanted to, I had no doubt he had the power to do so. But I didn’t want that and neither did he. Odin wanted me to fix this and run Helheim, not resent it. Apparently the gods were ready for a few changes and I was the first phase of that.

His words did more than reassure him, it helped me as well. I’d already accepted Helheim and my fate, but now I was positive I could do this. Closing the portal would come to me eventually, like it had before. And now I wasn’t alone, I had my men back, and the realm behind me.

Failure was never an option, but even less so now.

Soft footsteps had me turning away from the blazing portal to find Hiro approaching. His eyebrows were drawn and he offered me his hand, which I quickly took, intertwining our fingers together.

“Are you all right?”

“I am now,” I admitted. “Odin paid me a visit.”

“That would explain why I couldn’t open the door,” Hiro said dryly. “And you’re still standing here, so I take it the meeting went well?”

I snorted at that. “Shockingly, I think it did. My lack of filter might have gotten me killed on a bad day, but he let me live this time. Or whatever you call this version of living.”

Hiro picked up a strand of my silver-blonde hair and let it fall, a cloud of dust billowing from it. “It might be a bit dirty, but I’d still call it life.”

“Yeah, I wouldn’t say no to a shower. Care to join me?”

A smile spread across his face at my invitation, and he was already pulling me to the door.

“Hell yes, I do. Wait, can we still use that phrase?” I laughed at his attempt to lighten the mood as he led us back to the third floor. It was still our sanctuary in this world. Though I felt connected to both now. It was as if my conversation with Odin had taken the last of my reservations so I accepted the realm fully.

Hiro locked the bathroom door behind him—not that it would keep anyone but Layne out—before turning back to me. He peeled my clothes off of me before doing the same to himself, tossing them all aside. They were ruined and I didn’t care what happened to them, we’d conjure more.

“It’s so strange. I feel more like myself than I ever have. You’d think it would be a weird transition to go from one body to the next, having random powers I don’t understand, but I feel like this is who I was supposed to be,” he said. The vulnerability had me brushing my hands down his arms. It wasn’t the sexy moment I had expected but I had a feeling my lover needed to get that off of his chest.

“It’s the same for me. I’m literally connected to a realm, Hiro. I can feel it and sometimes it feels more sentient than we are. It conveys thoughts and messages to me, and not in the psychotic hallucination way like before. Now it’s like it chose me back.”

“Because it knows your worth,” he whispered, pushing my hair out of my face and bringing his lips to mine. “We all do.”

His kiss wasn’t rushed or sweet, it was possessive and purposeful. As if he were learning me all over again.

“I love you, Hiro,” I said. The urge to let him know was so strong I couldn’t have held the words back if I’d wanted to.

“As do I, my queen,” he teased. It was him telling me in his own way that he loved me back.

Hiro backed us into the shower, still claiming my mouth as he adjusted the hot water. Steam filled the air and we only broke away long enough for the water to wash away the remnants of the battle.

The moment I deemed myself clean enough, I dropped to my knees in front of him. His breath caught as I wrapped my lips around his hard cock.

“Harlow, that’s not—” His protests broke off into a moan as he hit the back of my throat. And I didn’t let him protest further as I pulled back and swallowed him down again, sucking hard and setting a mind-blowing pace I knew he couldn’t resist.

My hands were braced on his ass, likely leaving my fingerprints as bruises. A part of me hoped Drake would get to see them later, and wondered how he’d react.

Hiro was babbling out praises that were barely comprehensible which was a sign I was doing somethingveryright.

Our bond was blown wide open and I could not just feel the connection we had, but the pure bliss Hiro was feeling. It easily amplified my own, so I was soaking wet, and not just from the shower.

Hiro grabbed desperately at my hair, slamming down my throat twice more before he came, crying out my name in a hoarse, desperate call that had a smile forming on my lips as I pulled away.

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